Britt Marie

Restaurant Information

1369 Solano Avenue (between Carmel Ave & Ramona Ave)
Albany, CA 94706

(510) 527-1314
http://www.brittmariesrestaurant.com/

Rita: This restaurant was a little hard to find. From the outside, the place looks dark and closed. Once you open the very ancient-looking wooden door, you are hit with an antique-tavern vibe. I was surprised by the size of the restaurant; It's actually pretty big and we were quickly seated. Word of warning, come eat here when you are not hungry unless you are willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money. I found this restaurant to be slightly on the pretentious side, the waiter didn't frequent our table and service was a little slow. This place could be summed up as: overpriced dwarf-sized portions of Eastern European cuisine.

Mike: The food, while pretty good-tasting, was served in portions for either five-year olds or elves - and not the tall kind in Lord of the Rings, but those Keebler elves who live in trees and make cookies and crackers in their spare time.

Menu

Food

Shrimp Gyro

Amy: I had the shrimp gyro, it wasn't bad, but I've definitely had better. I would say the taste of the food is in between fast food and gourmet, but the prices would say gourmet. Even though there was only one other table occupied, the waiter rarely came by to see how we were doing. When it came to ordering desert, we had ask the waiter for it as he was handing us our bill. It was as though he wanted us to leave. I would recommend this place if you're craving a gyro and don't care about service or what price you pay.

Rita: This gyro almost made me cry, and not in a good way. It was so small and I ate this thing in 5 bites. The beef and lamb were marinated well, but the white sauce was a little too overwhelming. I felt like I was eating a taco with too much sour cream.

kitzie: I've had better gyro's - that cost less money. How do you not offer side dishes with something like this??? I kind of liked the too much sour cream stuff though. Oh, and it was wicked small, so make sure you order some extra if you need to have a miniature, unremarkable gyro.

Mike: While this gyro was pretty awesome as far as taste goes,(extra sauce a big plus in my book) the size was utterly depressing. Within a few minutes, I had downed this thing, eaten some of Rita's Spanakopita and was still hungry. Way overpriced for the amount of food, unless they are going by the belief that the more food costs the less you should get, but in that case the usually quality improves much more. I won't be back unless I bring an elf-sized appetite or win the lotto.

Spanakopita

Rita: This spinach dish was quite the tasty. I've never had one of these before and was very pleased by the taste. I'd still like to bring up the fact that I was still hungry even with the spanakopita and gyro already digesting in my stomach. I was forced to loosen my wallet and purchase the much needed dessert portion of the meal.

Tiramisu

Rita: I had to get dessert. My stomach was unhappily unsatisfied. Apparently you get free dessert if you pay your bill with cash. I did not have cash (who carries cash anyways? It's all about the plastic cards), so I had to pay MORE money for this subpar tiramisu. It just tasted like very soggy chocolate cake with lady fingers stuck in the middle. No taste of expresso, no hint of rum, just mushy globs of sugar. Immediate regret. I should have waited and gone to get gelato from Eunice's Gourmet Cafe.

Seared pear in Brandy sauce (I think)Mike: I almost never order dessert in a restaurant because I feel that generally they are overpriced. However, after an unsatisfying meal, I decided to splurge and go for something else to whet my appetite. Unfortunately I got this- a dish that essentially was a cold, peeled pear with a cinammony syrup poured over it. Not much more to say than that, except that I regret my purchase.